Vince Cable Announces £50m for Emerging Technologies

Vince Cable Announces £50m for Emerging Technologies

6th Nov 12:10

Business Secretary Vince Cable has announced £50m of investment for emerging and world-changing technologies.

Cable said that while the UK has historically excelled in science it has been less successful at innovation. He believes the act of taking scientific ideas and applying them is an issue the government is aware of and needs to solve.

The funding has been secured through Innovate UK and will help connect science and innovation in new technologies, including synthetic biology, energy harvesting and non-animal technologies. The funding represents a doubling of Innovate UK's investment in early stage technologies.

Innovate UK Chief executive Iain Gray said: "Much of Innovate UK's funding and expertise goes to support business innovation where the commercial opportunities are well understood and the technological challenges known - even if the solutions are not.

"But it is vital that we also look further ahead, scanning the horizon for the breakthroughs of tomorrow. With our strong and inventive research base, the UK is an excellent source of high potential early-stage technologies. This new investment will help make the push for full commercialisation, creating real economic growth for the UK in the process."

Cable admitted the government is short of cash after a series of budget cuts; however, they decided to protect the science budget.

When it comes to access to finance in the UK, Cable said he was surprised to find out that he was the biggest venture capitalist in the country.

Cable added: "That's not right; the private sector should be taking risks and getting behind business."